Focus:
Orange juice
from Aldi,
Lidl, Kaufland
& Co.
No
regard
for
labour
rights ?
<<< 100 % squeezed: Workers in Brazil
1
Legal notice
Publisher:
Christliche Initiative Romero,
Breul 23, 48143 Münster
Tel: 02 51 / 89 503 | Fax: 02 51 / 82 541
cir@ci-romero.de | www.ci-romero.de
Editor:
Sandra Dusch Silva (CIR/V.i.S.d.P.),
Katharina Wesenick (ver.di), Isabell
Braunger (CIR), Andreas Hamann.
Proof-reader:
Gudrun Giese, Katharina Mittenzwei.
Layout:
Marco Fischer – grafischer.com
Photos:
Marco Fischer, Sandra Dusch Silva (CIR),
Emese Gulyás (TVE), Attila Vizi (Water
Film), fruitnet.com.
Graphics/illustration:
Marco Fischer, Sabine Knauf, Fairtrade.
© 2013
With financial support from BMZ. The contents are the sole
responsibility of the editor.
This publication has been produced with the
assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of CIR and can in no way be taken to
reflect the views of the European Union.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Contents
Overview of orange juice.........................................................................................
4
Orange juice..................................................................................................................... 5
Market Leader Brazil....................................................................................................... 6
Cultivation........................................................................................................................ 8
Processing......................................................................................................................... 10
Cartels and Market Concentration............................................................................... 12
Figure: Sales Channels for Orange Juice Concentrate................................................ 14
Citrosuco/Citrovita......................................................................................................... 15
Louis Dreyfus Commodities........................................................................................... 16
Cutrale............................................................................................................................... 18
Brazilian Landless Rural Workers’ Movement.................................................................... 20
Working Conditions in Orange Juice Production....................................... 22
Job Security....................................................................................................................... 23
Remuneration................................................................................................................... 25
Working Hours................................................................................................................. 25
Health, Safety and Toilet Facilities................................................................................ 26
Discrimination.................................................................................................................. 30
Freedom of Assembly...................................................................................................... 31
ALDI...................................................................................................................................... 33
The Art of Less ................................................................................................................. 33
Marching separately, attacking together .................................................................. 34
Aldi’s Price Dictatorship ................................................................................................. 35
Corporate Social Responsibility..................................................................................... 35
LIDL and Kaufland........................................................................................................ 37
A fruit dealer becomes a global player ........................................................................ 37
An inpenetrable web...................................................................................................... 37
Corporate Social Responsibility..................................................................................... 38
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Contents
Call for Change............................................................................................................ 40
Overview of orange juice
The average EU consumer drinks 20 litres of
orange juice each year. Globally consumers
drink on average 7.8 litres each year, making
orange juice the most important variety of
fruit juice.
4
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
A
single orange
contains 70
milligrams of
Vitamin C, which provides over 100 per cent
of the recommended
daily dose. Oranges are
also rich in fibre. Orange
juice is produced by squeezing sweet or bitter oranges, or mandarins. However, fruit
juice legislation stipulates that a drink can
only be described as fruit juice if it contains
100 per cent juice and pulp from the fruit in
question.1 Orange juice may not contain additives such as colourings or preservatives.
The EU stipulates that up to 15 grams of sugar
may be added per litre of fruit juice if sugar
levels in the fruit in question are too low due
to climatic conditions. It is not mandatory to
indicate such corrective addition of sugar on
the packaging.
Commercially available orange juice is
produced as directly squeezed juice or, since
1945, from concentrate.NFC stands for Not
From Concentrate. This refers to pasteurized
juice, which is first heated and then cooled
again. This is done to deactivate enzymes and
kill microorganisms in order to extend the
shelf life of the orange juice. In this process
NFC retains its original volume as well as the
juice’s aromatic substances.
In order to produce concentrate, the
slightly volatile aromatic substances must be
extracted from the juice before it is evaporated to one-seventh of its initial volume. These
aromatic substances are added back into the
juice. FCOJ is used as an abbreviation for
Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice. The frozen concentrate can be stored at -10° C for 36
months. However, half of the vitamin C is lost
when this method is used. During transport
FCOJ is five to six times more concentrated
1C.f. Fruchtsaft-und Erfrischungsgetränkeverordnung, 24th
May 2004 (BgBl./Federal Gazette I p. 1016)
than NFC. As a result, NFC is significantly
more expensive to transport. In the last ten
years sales of NFC have increased. It is consid-
Top: In the juice plants the oranges are sorted,
washed and transferred into a pressing machine.
Bottom: Checking the orange juice.
erably more aromatic and closer to the natural taste of freshly squeezed orange juice, and
also creates higher profit margins for the juice
industry. A litre of concentrate can be sold for
around 20 cents, whilst the going price for
fresh juice is 50 cents.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
5
Overview of orange juice
ORANGE JUICE
cent. The USA is the
second most important orange-growing
country, accounting
for 16 per cent of
the global market.
However,
whereas
Florida
primarily
produces oranges for
the domestic US
market, 98 per cent
of Brazilian juice is
produced for export.
The Brazilian state of
São Paulo alone acFigure 1: In the state of São Paulo, circa 200 million orange trees provide the
counts for over half
raw materials for about half of global production. Other important orangeof the fruit juice congrowing areas in Brazil are in the north-west of the state of Paraná, the
centrate consumed
Triângulo Mineiro in the state of Minas Gerais and the north of the state of
worldwide. The largBahia. Source: transfair: Unterrichtseinheit Orangensaft, 2010
est importer is the
Products that contain only 25 to 99 European Union, which receives roughly
per cent fruit juice are categorized as “juice two-thirds of exports. 17 per cent of these go
drinks” and may not be labelled as juice. Juice to Germany, which is top of the import league
drinks may contain preservatives, sweeteners table and the largest outlet for Brazilian conor colourings and are generally cheaper than centrate.2
actual juice. Orange juice is also found in proOranges are cultivated on very extensive
cessed form in lemonades, with a juice con- plantations as a monoculture. These singletent of less than 25 per cent.
crop areas are extremely vulnerable to pests
and plant diseases. They therefore need intensive treatment with chemical plant protection
MARKET LEADER BRAZIL
products. In the late 1930s the “Tristeza” virus
Oranges are likely to have originated around destroyed virtually the entire orange harvest in
4,000 years ago in South Asia, probably in Brazil. After years of experimentation, crosswhat is now China. This is also reflected in breeding produced new resistant varieties.
the fact that in many languages the orange is These contributed to Brazil’s emergence as
referred to as an apple from China (e.g. Ap- one of the leading players in orange producfelsine in German): In the Middle Ages the tion over subsequent decades. After a drop in
Arabs brought oranges to Europe. Oranges exports in the Second World War, the sector
arrived in America around 1500 with one of began to develop and expand in the Fifties.
Christopher Columbus’ expeditions. Brazil The government actively promoted the expanoffers more favourable growing conditions sion of cultivated areas. However global dethan the region in which oranges originated. mand for oranges remained much lower than
A third of all oranges now come from Brazil, the quantity of fruit produced in the country.
as does more than half of all orange juice. That gave rise to the idea of increasing sales
Brazil’s share of world trade in Frozen Con- 2C.f. Neves, Marcos Fava: O retrato da Citricultura Brasileira,
centrate Orange Juice (FCOJ) is over 80 per 2010, p.97.
6
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Orange juice
imports worldwide
2.28 billion US$
EU:
USA:
0.27 bil. US$
(12%)
1.59 bil. US$
(70%)
Rest of
the world:
0.42 bil. US$
(18%)
Figure 2: Importers of Brazilian
orange juice 2012. .
Source: Secretaria de Comércio Exterior/ Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria e Comércio Exterior (Secex – MDIC) e
CitrusBR. Elaboração: IOS (2013).
are in the state of São Paulo. Cultivation of oranges has been intensified in this region since
the 1970s, in the wake of the destruction of all
the coffee plantations in the area due to frost
and diseases (in particular Hemileia vastatrix
or coffee rust). Oranges offered a particularly viable alternative: on the one hand, the
climate and soil were suitable, whilst on the
other hand sufficient cheap labour was also
available; like coffee, oranges are also a very
labour-intensive crop.3
3C.f. Borges & Costa: A Evolução do Agronegócio Citrícola
Paulista e o Perfil da Intervenção do Estado. Revista Uniara, n.
17/18, 2005/2006, p. 101 -102.
Cutrale juice plant in Conchal.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
7
Overview of orange juice
and boosting profit margins by processing the
fruit to make juice.
In 1959 the firm Mineira de Bebidas
opened the first factory producing fruit juice
concentrate. Citrosuco (part of the Fischer
group) was one of the first companies that
specialized in transporting this concentrate.
Nowadays exports of fruit play a minor role.
70 per cent of oranges are squeezed for juice.
Only 0.2 per cent of the 2009/10 harvest was
exported as whole fruit. Whilst there were
only 76 juice extraction machines in Brazil
in the 1970s, by 2010 this figure had risen
to 1,178. 90 per cent of Brazil’s juice presses
Figure 3: Regions and number
of juice plants per company
(2009/2010).
The citrus belt is divided into five regions in the figure, corresponding to the geographical position in the state of São Paulo: (1) northwest; (2) north, (3) centre, (4) south, and (5) Castelo. The figure does not take the Citovita/Citrosuco merger into account.
Development: Markestrat a partir de CitrusBr. Source: O retrato da citricultura brasileira, FAVA NEVES (Coordenador), 2010, p. 40
CULTIVATION
Orange plants are propagated vegetatively i.e.
using seedlings. Depending on the variety and
the growing conditions, young trees only bear
fruit after three to five years; subsequently
they produce a full crop for a further 25 to
40 years (in Brazil c. 140 kilograms per tree
per annum). Juice oranges are special varieties bred for high juice content. Plant care and
soil maintenance are mechanized. The citrus
fruits are however primarily harvested by
hand, as they do not all ripen at the same time.
Oranges are grown in orange groves, with
various varieties cultivated specifically for the
juice industry. These include: Hamlin, Westin, Rubi, Pera, Valencia, Natal and Folha Murcha. As these varieties ripen at different times,
8
the harvest period in Brazil runs from July to
January. If the oranges are picked too early, the
juice tastes bitters. Oranges ripe for picking
are not necessarily orange, as the colour only
develops after a period of colder nights with
temperatures around 5° C. Nights are not so
cold in countries such as Brazil, which means
that the oranges mainly stay green or yellow.
Green oranges can be ripe and sweet enough
for making juice. In order to maintain a consistent standard throughout the year, the varieties are mixed in varying proportions during
and after juice production.
As for most products sold with a high
margin, there is pressure in the orange industry too to keep increasing efficiency in cultivation to keep costs as low as possible. A high
yield is required from the oranges grown for
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
industrial processing. In the last 30 years there
have been enormous increases in productivity,
thanks in part to denser planting. Whereas in
the past 250 trees were planted per hectare,
nowadays there may be as many as 833 trees
per hectare. On smaller plantations, an average 280 crates (of 40.8 kg) of oranges are
harvested per hectare, whilst on larger plantations the yield can be up to 900 crates per
hectare. As well as being more efficient, large
plantations also have better administrative
structures to meet the requirements of inter-
damage. Pesticides, fungicides and insecticides are applied in order to mitigate these
problems, and enormous amounts of artificial
fertilizer are used, which has led to higher
production costs over the last few years. The
cost of fertiliser accounts for around 8 per
cent of the final price. Only 20 to 40 per cent
of orange groves are owned by juice producers. The rest of the oranges required are
bought in.
At present juice producers pay farmers
around 2,60 Euro per crate of oranges (40.8
national purchasers. For example, they can
produce country-specific pesticide profiles
and label the fruit accordingly.
Orange growers constantly have to deal
with new pests and diseases which damage
their trees and affect the harvest. One particularly devastating example is a disease
called “greening”. It is very difficult to control,
spreads very rapidly and causes enormous
kg), and processing their harvest in addition
to that from their own groves. Due to the low
prices paid by the juice cartel, which often do
not even cover production costs, the ranks
of landless plantation workers are constantly
growing.
As a result of the juice industry’s price
policy, many small farmers are on the verge
of ruin or have already given up and sold their
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
9
Overview of orange juice
Like coffee, oranges are also a very labour-intensive crop.
land for less than it is worth. Today 40 per cent
of oranges are grown by 51 producers (0.4 per
cent), who have over 400,000 trees. However,
three out of four growers farm small plantations with less than10,000 trees. In 2009, 44
per cent of plantation owners were no longer
directly to juice manufacturers. The juice producing company pays for the cost of the harvest and transport to the juice plant. Payment
is made on delivery at the spot rate. The farmers currently receive around 2,60 Euro per
40.8-kilogram crate – if they can transport the
oranges to the processing plant. That is only
around 6 cent per kilogram of oranges. However, prices fluctuate dramatically from year to
year. Total costs per crate for farmers amount
to around 70 cents, which includes the cost of
harvesting (43 cents) and transport (27 cent).
That leaves farmers with 1,90 Euro per crate
(40.8 kg). A third, although infrequently used
option, is to conclude a contract with a guarantee. In this scenario however exchange-rate
losses are borne by the seller.
PROCESSING
The juice cartel pays prices that often do not even
cover production costs. The number of workers
without land has swelled as a result. This man is
waiting in the camp of the Landless Rural Workers’ movement MST to receive a title to land of
his own and a better future.
able to produce the minimum amount of oranges needed to secure their livelihood. Some
farmers have extended their production to
include sugar cane or have switched crop entirely as they could not hold their own in the
competitive orange-growing sector.4
Juice multinationals may also opt to
purchase oranges directly. In these cases the
industry buys the entire harvest, as well as
providing the labour and transport. For each
crate harvested, the orange growers receive an
agreed price, which is set in US dollars and is
generally paid in advance. If the world market
price on the New York Stock Exchange falls
during the harvest, the farmers must repay
the difference. A further option is to sell fruit
4C.f. Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab): Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Acompanhamento da Safra de Laranja 2011/2012. Terceiro Levantamento
– SP; Estimativa da Safra no Triângulo Mineiro – MG, 12/2011,
p. 6.
10
In the juice plants the oranges are sorted,
washed and fed into juice extraction equipment. This presses each of the fruits individually, so that peel does not enter the concentrate, which would give it a bitter taste. The
aromatic substances are then removed from
the squeezed juice so that these are not lost
during processing. These aromatic substances
are then added to the juice once again when it
is bottled or packaged. The juice concentrate
or pasteurized juice is purchased primarily by
bottling plants. They reconstitute and package
the juice.
At the end of the manufacturing process the
water is removed from the juice, creating
the concentrate. One tone of orange juice is
squeezed out of 250 crates: six tones of juice
produce one tonne of concentrate, which currently costs around 2,500 Euro on the world
market.5
The freight travels to Europe in special
ships with ISO tank containers. Juice giants
such as Cutrale, Citrosuco and Louis Dreyfus
have set up their own “tank farms” to store
5 Figures from: 10.6.2013.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
FCOJ on the Stock Exchange
Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice is traded internationally as a commodity on the
commodities spot market. OJ (for orange juice) is the trading symbol on the ticker
of global agricultural exchanges. The market price varies as a function of how
good the harvest has been and is highly weather-dependent for this commodity.
Storms in Brazil, for example, lead to the price shooting up, as a poorer harvest is
expected. Over the last few years, juice prices on the international market have
sunk due to weak demand and two consecutive record harvests.1 In November
2012 a crate of oranges was traded for less than 2,50 Euro (7 Real) on the São
Paulo market: in 2011 the price was still 3,50 Euro (10 Real) per crate. Calculations
by economist Mendonça de Barros give a price of 3,40 Euro (9,64 Real) as a reference price that would allow farmers to at least recoup production costs.2
1C.f. Valor econômico: Cade congela o processo de criação do Consecitrus, 22/11/2012. at: http://www.valor.com.br/
empresas/2912914/cade-congela-o-processo-de-criacao-do-consecitrus (accessed on: 14.8.2013).
2 ibid
supermarkets for sale to consumers in bottles
or Tetrapaks.
Figure 4: From orange to juice.
Source: Fair­trade: Unterrichtseinheit Orangensaft, 2010.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
11
Overview of orange juice
the concentrate in Europe’s major ports, and
do business directly with European packaging and bottling companies and chains. The
juice concentrate is shipped from Santos in
Brazil and is imported into Europe through
the ports of Rotterdam (Cutrale), Antwerp
(Citrosuco) and Ghent (Louis Dreyfus and
Citrosuco). Around 70 per cent of the harvest
goes directly to Belgium and the Netherlands.
In the ports the juice is pumped into storage
tanks, and is then transported by HGV to bottling plants across Europe. Depending on the
final product, water and aroma are added to
the concentrate. Concentrates from different
growing regions are mixed to suit differing
consumer tastes.
In some cases bottling companies have
their own brands, but also work on behalf of
retailers to produce retailer own-brand products. Bottlers of juice-based beverages generally buy orange juice on the basis of a per-season contract, picking the best offer from the
three orange juice manufacturers. They buy
from several manufacturers to ensure steady
supplies of juice. The juice is transported to
CARTELS AND MARKET
CONCENTRATION
In order to survive on the highly competitive market, there is increasing concentration
in all areas of the orange juice production
chain. The numerous small or mediumsized orange producers are confronted with
three processing multinationals nowadays.
Whereas 15 to 20 small firms were still active
in orange juice production between 1970 and
1990, since the 80s the major players have
begun to take over smaller firms and to drive
them out of the market. As a result, by 2006
only four significant firms remained: Cutrale
with 36 per cent market share; Citrosuco with
30 per cent (a Fischer subsidiary); Citrovita
with 12 per cent (a Votorantim subsidiary)
and Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC) with
12 per cent.6 The wave of
consolidations peaked
in December 2011
when Citrovita was
taken over by Citrosuco.7 The firms control the global orange juice
market and generally supply over
50 per cent to major bottling companies. Experts cite economies of scale as
one of the reasons for this consolidation, along with greater scope to invest in
logistics programmes and to make more efficient use of juice extraction equipment.8 This
pronounced consolidation gives the three
remaining firms enormous market power in
price negotiations with orange producers
and makes it possible for them
to regularly push prices
lower than the cost of
production. To that
end they also adopt
strategies that involve
price manipulation on the
New York Stock Exchange to ensure prices
6C.f. Instituto de Economia Agrícola (IEA). Mudanças na
citricultura paulista.
At: http://www.iea.sp.gov.br/ out/vertexto.
php?codtexto=3018 (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
7C.f. Rural BR: Após fusão com Citrosuco, Citrovita fecha unidade em São Paulo, 29.02.2012. At: http:// agricultura.ruralbr.
com.br/noticia/2012/02/apos-fusao-comcitrosuco-citrovitafecha-unidade-em-sao-paulo-3680088.html (accessed on:
15.08.2013).
8C.f. Fava Neves, 2010, p. 60.
12
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
The headquarters of the juice multinationals
were inspected ten years ago, in response to
a tip-off from an insider, and numerous documents were confiscated. However, to date the
investigations into the dealings of the juice giants are still in a logjam and the documents
are off-limits. The only additional information
to emerge is a detailed report from 2012 on
the firms’ price-fixing agreements by the Associação Brasileira dos Citricultores, which
filed a lawsuit alleging that a cartel had been
established. The court ruled that the firms
must pay a fine.11
In the orange juice bottling and packaging market, the number of firms also continues to shrink, with market share per firm increasing as a result. In 2009/2010 there were
a total of 35 European bottling companies,
which purchased 80 per cent of orange juice
from Brazil. The four major orange juice concentrate bottlers in Germany are: 1) Stute, 2)
Eckes, 3) Emig/Refresco, 4) Riha Wesergold.
They account for over half the market share
for orange juice sold in Germany.
The sales sector is also highly concentrated and is controlled by a small number of
retail chains. A German Cartel Office study
from 1999 indicated that the group of leading chains was made up of 8 firms with a total
market share of around70 per cent. In 2011
the German Cartel Office identified that this
had dropped to just 4 leading retailers with
a total market share of 85 per cent (1. Edeka
Group, 2. Rewe Group, 3. Schwarz Group, 4.
Aldi Group).12 The two largest chains cooperate with other international companies in
large purchasing groups, such as Aladis (Edeka) and Coopernic (Rewe Group), to squeeze
the most favourable conditions possible out of
suppliers. 80 per cent of trade in non-alcoholic beverages is dominated by the large supermarket chains.
9Revista Globo Rural: Queremos indenização. Nosso prejuízo
soma Us$ 7 bilhões. O presidente da Associação Brasileira de
Citricultores (Associtrus), Flávio Viegas, luta pelo fim da cartelização do setor, 06/2010. At:http://revistagloborural.globo.
com/revista/Common/0,,ert149206-18286,00.html (accessed
on: 15.08.2013).
10Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra (MST): Exfabricante de suco de laranja denuncia Cutrale por formação de
cartel, 15.3.2010. At: http://www.mst.org.br/
node/9319 (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
11C.f. Carta Capital: O cartel invencível da laranja, 15.5.2012.
At:http://www.cartacapital.com.br/politica/ocartel-invencivelda-laranja (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
12C.f. Stärkung des Wettbewerbs bei Handel and Dienstleistungen. Neunzehntes Hauptgutachten der Monopolkommission
2010/2011, p.428.
“We would meet every Wednesday
and decide who we would buy from.
Every firm had their own region.
We divided the state of São Paulo
between us. Cutrale was present
throughout the country. Citro
vita was more present in the Matoa
region. We were more active in the
Limeira region. Back then we would
agree on a price of 3.20 dollars
(ca. 2,40 Euro) per crate.” 10
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
13
Overview of orange juice
drop during the harvest, subsequently followed by price stabilization. In order to retain
their monopolistic position, Citrosuco, LDC
and Cutrale have bought their own terminals
at ports in Europe, the USA and Asia. Dumping prices are used to drive out other market
participants. Once this kind of monopoly
position has been established, the following
practices are commonplace: prices and deadlines are established unilaterally, the quality of
products is called into question or a fair price
is not paid, and contracts are breached. At the
start of the harvest, the firms agree how much
they want to pay producers this year. All the
firms pay the same price. They also fix an export price, as an expert on the sector, Flávio
Viegas, notes.9 This is also confirmed by the
former owner of CTM Citrus, Dino Tofini,
whose juice plants were recently bought up by
Citrosuco and Cutrale:
SalesCHANNELS
channelsFOR
for ORANGE
orange juice
concentrate
SALES
JUICE CONCENTRATE
Work on plantations involves
unhealthy working conditions
and low wages.
30 per cent of oranges are grown by the largest juice
manufacturers on their own plantations. They purchase
the rest of what they need. They regularly use their
market leverage to push prices below the cost of
production.
The concentrate is sold
on the world market.
Prices are dictated by
the major juice manufacturers. Dumping
prices push competitors off the market.
35 European bottling firms buy 80 per cent
of Brazilian concentrate.
The four largest bottling firms in Germany
with a market share of more than 50 per
cent are 1) Stute, 2) Eckes, 3) Emig/Refresco, 4) Riha Wesergold.
The bottling firms produce their
own brands, but also bottle
retailer own-brand products for
large supermarket chains.
85 per cent of the food retail trade in Germany is dominated by
four retailers: 1)Edeka Group, 2) Rewe Group, 3) Schwarz Group,
4) Aldi Group. They try to pull customers in with a constant
stream of cut-price offers.
Figure 5: Sales channels for orange juice concentrate.
Figure based on work by transfair Unterrichtseinheit Orangensaft, 2010.
14
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Citrosuco/Citrovita
Share of global juice production:
25 per cent
Exports to:
80 countries
Number of suppliers:
2.500
Labour force:
6,500, as many as 15,000 during the harvest
Branch offices: 6 (Brazil, Germany, Belgium, USA, Japan and China)
The merger of the two firms in 2011 set
alarm bells ringing. Citrosuco and Citrovita
are both market leaders throughout the entire
production chain. The merger was ultimately
approved, with certain caveats, including guarantees of longer term contracts for suppliers.13
The merged giants supply 80 countries with
25 per cent of the orange juice consumed
worldwide. In addition to the plantations run
directly by the firm, which supply around 30
per cent of its needs, the firm also has 2,500
independent orange suppliers.14 Due to the
scale of the merger – turnover of both companies in Europe exceeds the threshold values above which EU merger provisions apply
– it has also been addressed by the European
Commission. Despite the enormous influence
over the market the new giant would exert, the
European Union took the view that sufficient
potential for pressure from the major competitors on the market still exists and would afford adequate protection from excessive price
increases for consumers.15 Brazilian workers
are however not protected. Shortly after the
13 C.f. Economia: CADE aprova fusão da Citrovita e Citrosuco,
criando gigante do suco. Aprovação impõe condições que constarão de termo de compromisso. Fusão cria a maior empresa
mundial de suco de laranja, 14.12.2011.
At: http:// g1.globo.com/economia/negocios/noticia/2011/12/
cade-aprova-fusao-da-citrovita-e-citrosuco-criando-gigantedo-suco. html (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
14 C.f. FSB Comunicações. Citrosuco/Citrovita, 05/2010.
At:http://www.mzweb.com.br/votorantim/web/arquivos/
Votorantim_Citrovitaannouncement.pdf (accessed on:
15.08.2013).
15C.f. Valor OnLine: União Europeia aprova fusão entre Citrosuco e Citrovita, 04.05.2011.
At: http://www.valor.com.br/search/apachesolr_search/
fus%C3%a3o%20citrovita%20citrosuco?page=1&solrsort=cre
ated%20desc&filters=type%3avalor_international_conteudo
(accessed on: 14.8.2013).
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
15
Overview of orange juice
Citrosuco/Citrovita is the largest orange-juice
exporting firm worldwide. It produces 40 per
cent of Brazil’s orange juice output. The firm
has five plants in Brazil, orange plantations in
Florida, two port terminals in Brazil, five more
abroad and its own fleet of ships. It employs
more than 6,000 staff; during the harvest this
figure can be as high as15,000.
Citrosuco came into being in 1963 on
the basis of cooperation between a German
bottling company (Eckes), the Pasco Packing Company (juice manufacturer from
Florida) and a German immigrant, Carl Fischer. Whilst en route to Argentina, which
was enjoying an economic boom at the time,
in 1928 Fischer put down roots in Santos in
Brazil, bought his first plantation, Citricola,
and set up a fruit trading company. In 1963,
together with entrepreneur Ludwig Eckes, he
bought an orange processing plant in the city
of Matão and founded the company Citrosuco
Paulista. Citrosuco is now a subsidiary of the
Fischer Group. The latter provides maritime
transport services for oil platforms. This shipping link guaranteed Citrosuco’s rapid expansion. Fischer soon recognized the potential of
the European market and was one of the first
companies to begin transporting fruit juice
concentrate rather than fruit juice.
Citrovita’s corporate history does not begin until 1989. It is a subsidiary of the industrial conglomerate Votorantim, which is active
in areas such as cement and concrete, mining
and metallurgy, paper, financial services and
chemicals, and conducts its business in the
citrus sector through Citrovita.
merger, a plant in Matão was closed, with the
direct loss of 173 jobs. Restructuring of the
firm is continuing, and thousands of jobs are
now affected. The company has announced
that workers will receive a redundancy payment: a month’s wage for workers who have
been employed for less than ten years and two
month’s wages for all other employees.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities
Share of global juice production:
Labour force:
15 per cent
3,200, as many as 8,000 during the harvest
Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC) is one of
the world’s leading agricultural companies.
LDC is a French firm and does 70 per cent of
its business in Brazil. LDC is among the country’s ten largest exporters.
The firm’s history can be traced back to
1851, when Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, the son of
a French farmer, began to trade in seeds. The
firm established a presence in Brazil in 1942.
During the eighties and nineties, LDC bought
out many of its competitors in the country.
In addition to citrus fruit, the company
also trades in sugar, coffee, soya and oleiferous plants The firm is one of the global market leaders in orange juice, sugar cane and
agricultural fuel. LDC has its own terminal at
the port of Santos in Brazil, three orange juice
plants (FCOJ and NFC) and more than 14 million fruit trees, mostly oranges. In this area
the firm employs 3,200 workers, with figures
rising to 8,000 during the harvest. LDC is the
third largest orange processing firm in the
world and accounts for 15 per cent of global
orange juice production. In 2011 LDC had a
16
new record harvest, with 68 million crates.16
In 2012 the firm was found guilty of making false allegations about the quality of the
oranges supplied to it.17 The quality of oranges
is determined on the basis of the acidity of the
juice. Purchasers may demand price reductions if the acidity threshold is exceeded.
The case brought against the company
that as a response to the drop in world market prices it had entered deliberately incorrect
entries in its accounts about the quality of
the fruit it received. Before the harvest LDC
had already negotiated that it would pay circa
three Euro per crate. However, the world market price later fell below this level as it was a
very good harvest.LDC therefore called into
question the quality of the oranges delivered
and insisted on a 10-per-cent discount on the
agreed price. More than 300 suppliers were
affected by this penalty.18
16C.f. Louis Dreyfus Commodities. Relatório Anual 2011, p. 64.
17C.f. Noticias Agrícolas: Citricultores ganham processo contra
a Coinbra-frutesp, 11.05.2012. At:http://www.noticiasagricolas.
com.br/noticias/laranjacitrus/105616citricultores-ganham-processo-contra-a-coinbra-frutesp.html (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
18C.f. Notícias Agrícolas: Entrevista com Fábio Mesquita Ribeiro,11.05.2012. At: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=1ctLKn50Wr8 (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Bottom: The work force in the juice producer’s blue
uniforms.
In 2007 LDC set up Calyx Agro; the subsidiary’s role is “to find and purchase further
land suitable for farming in Brazil, Argentina,
Uruguay and Paraguay and to promote cultivation on these sites”. The aim is to “profit
from the current increase in land values”.19
106,000 hectares have been purchased by Ca-
lyx Agro in the aforementioned countries. 90
per cent of the land was already under cultivation, and 45 per cent of this land is now owned
by LDC. By the end of 2014 it is planned that
a further 250,000 hectares of newly acquired
land will be farmed in the company’s name
– by way of comparison, the surface area of
Germany is around 350,000 hectares.
19LDC. Relatório Anual 2011, p. 42.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
17
Overview of orange juice
Top: This way for Louis Dreyfus Commodities HQ
Cutrale „Sucocitrico“
Share of global juice production:
30 per cent
Exports to:
90 countries
Orange-growing capacity:
the firm grows around 40 per cent of the oranges it
processes.
Labour force:15,000
(Family) assets: estimated at 11.3 billion Euro.
Cutrale has specialised in producing oranges
ever since it was founded. Cutrale exports to
90 countries, has over 15,000 employees and
accounts for around 30 per cent of global orange juice production. The company also has
plants and plantations in Florida. Cutrales’
clients include multinational groups such as
Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Parmalat. The firm is
one of the world’s largest food industry monopolists. The authorities have been investigating the company for tax evasion since
2000. The information that has emerged so
far shows that Cutrale deposited profits that
had been acquired legally on the Cayman Islands, circumventing the tax authorities.
The origins of the firm date back to the
early 20th century. It was founded by Sicilian
Guiseppe Cutrale, initially as an orange export
company. Under the leadership of his son José
Cutrale Junior, Cutrale officially began orange
juice production in 1967. Cutrale has been
involved in a price war with its competitor
Citrovita since 2000: the strategy of Citrovita
heir and then CEO was to pay higher prices
to orange suppliers than Cutrale. This tactic
proved unsuccessful. Cutrale managed to defend its leading position. Citrovita however
lost millions and the company let Ricardo Ermírio de Morais go. With the merger between
Citrovita and Citrosuco in 2012, Cutrale has
lost the leading position in international orange juice trade it held for two decades. In
order to recover this dominant position, a
merger with Louis Dreyfus Commodities is
18
being considered.20
Cutrale pursues an aggressive market
strategy. Considerable pressure is exerted on
suppliers to sell their oranges or land. As a
result of the company’s formidable market
power, the farmers find themselves in an extremely poor negotiating position. Reports
in the journal Veja indicate that the company
does not balk at threats and intimidation during pricing negotiations. In some instances
famers have been threatened that the firm will
not buy any more oranges from them unless
they sell their land to Cutrale. In addition,
producers also complain that Cutrale does
not respect contractual agreements. Since the
1990s the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE) has taken action on a
number of occasions in response to Cutrale’s
aggressive trading practices and numerous
complaints that the firm for has established a
cartel. However to date Cutrale has not been
sentenced for any of its unfair competitive
practices. It is generally assumed that this is
partly because of the family’s good political
contacts.
Conflicts with the Landless Rural
Workers’ Movement
Information from the Landless Rural Workers
20C.f. Rural BR: Cutrale e Louis Dreyfus juntam seu laranjal,
12.08.2010. At: http://www.noticiasagricolas. com.br/noticias/
laranja-citrus/73249-cutrale-e-louis-dreyfusjuntam-seu-laranjal.html.UV3r_DeyJ6c (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Cutrale juice plant in
Araraquara, where
the company has its
headquarters.
21C.f. MST: As laranjas e os Sem Terra (nr 298), 11.2009.
At: http://www.mst.org.br/jornal/298/realidadebrasileira
(accessed on:15.08.2013).
supported Cutrale in this matter received financial support from Cutrale during the subsequent legislative period.
The conflict over these land in question
has not yet been resolved. A family involved
in the occupation: “We are not here to vandalise anything, contrary to accounts in the
press. Cutrale believes that it has more right
to these farms than everybody here, but they
are wrong! I will come back and squat the land
again”. 300 women from MST occupied the
fazenda again in November 2012. The land
was squatted again in June 2013.22
In August 2011 the MST filed a lawsuit at
the court in São Paulo against Cutrale. They
accuse the firm of having made massive use of
poisons, pesticides and other agrochemicals
with, if any, few constraints, and consequently
polluting ground water that supplies the local
populace with drinking water.
22C.f. UOL noticías: MST volta a ocupar a fazenda da Cutrale
no interior de São Paulo, 11.11.2012. at: http:// noticias.uol.com.
br/politica/ultimas-noticias/2012/11/11/MSTvoltaa-ocupar-fazenda-da-cutrale-no-interior-de-sao-paulo. htm
(accessed on: 15.08.2013).
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
19
Overview of orange juice
Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores
Sem Terra, MST) shows that Cutrale owns 30
plantation farms – known as fazendas – in the
São Paolo region and the Triangulo Mineiro.
The Brazilian Land Reform Institute, the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma
Agrária (INCRA), has classified six of these
as not declared as being utilized for agricultural purposes. The MST accuses Cutrale of
having purchased land in the São Paolo region
from the Brazilian state using falsified documents. The INCRA has confirmed this and
has brought a court case against the firm.
The conflict relates to Fazenda Santo
Henrique, Fazenda Capim and Fazenda Timboré, which were subsequently occupied by
MST. In response the press, which is largely
in the hands of the country’s rich elite, has
repeatedly sought to tarnish MST’s reputation. The press has accused the movement of
destroying food production on the fazendas.
The MST confirmed that it had felled some
orange trees in order to plant staples such as
maize and beans. An MST leader: “We are not
against oranges. We are against the firm that
abuses public land”.21 The squatters at Fazenda Henrique were accused by a parliamentary
commission of having caused damage to the
tune of one thousand Real (circa 380 Euro).
The ruling was repealed in the courts for lack
of evidence. At least 55 MPS who energetically
Brazilian Landless
Rural Workers’
Movement –
Movimento dos
Trabalhadores
Sem Terra (MST)
Brazil’s only land reform to date
was implemented by the Portuguese
crown in 1530. The policy of granting vast swathes of land to the aristocracy dates from that era, and its
influence can still be felt today. Distribution of land ownership in Brazil is
characterized by extreme inequality.
Around ten per cent of the population
owns around 80 per cent of the land,
or, in other words, 1.6 per cent of the
population owns half of the agricultural land. Around 50 per cent of this
is not farmed, as it is purchased purely
for speculative purposes. In addition,
the large land owners use part of their
land to grow soya, sugar cane or citrus fruit for export, whereas almost
75 per cent of sales from small farms
involve supplying basic foodstuffs to
the domestic market.
President João Goulart’s plans
for a long-overdue land reform in the
1960s were thwarted when the army
seized power in 1964. During the military dictatorship, concentration of
land ownership grew even more pronounced. From the mid-70s on, there
were a growing number of land occupations by impoverished small farmers. In January 1984 the First National
Meeting of Landless Rural Workers
was held in the south of Brazil. Eighty
20
activists involved in land conflicts from
twelve states met with representatives
from other organizations to address the
land issue. The delegates jointly reached
the conclusion that occupying the land
constituted a legitimate means of democratizing land ownership and thus achieving a fairer society. They decided to set up
a national organization to pursue these
goals: the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement - MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra).
Since 1985 the MST has organised
occupations of unused or illegally purchased land. Initially camps, known as
acampamentos, are set up on these sites.
The MST seeks by these means to force
the state authorities to take action. Lawsuits are brought against the land owners
with a view to having the land transferred
to the people in the acampamentos. While
negotiations are underway, a process
that can take up to 15 years, people in
the camps live in highly precarious conditions, constantly afraid that they may be
evicted at short notice. In their struggle
the landless rural workers face repression
from state institutions as well as from the
private militias of many large landowners,
who take violent action against these occupations.
With over 1.5 million members, the
Landless Rural Workers’ Movement in
Brazil is the most significant social movement in Brazil and the largest in Latin
America. It advocates fairer land distribution and calls on politicians to take action
on ecological and social issues.
In 1991 the MST was awarded the
alternative Nobel Peace Prize for its committed work.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
These two men are
fighting to obtain a
title to the land and
live in an MST camp.
These MST women
took part in the
occupation of Fazenda
Santo Henrique.
At last - this land
belongs to him - part
of an MST settlement
near Ribeirão Preto.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
21
Brazilian Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST)
Sandra Dusch Silva
from CIR (on the left)
talking to two MST
activists.
Working conditions
in orange juice
production
Cultivation of oranges is very labour-intensive. The fruit is mostly
picked by hand. Most pickers travel from plantation to plantation,
harvesting oranges, sugar cane or other products depending on the
season. Generally they work for wages too low to allow them to live
in dignity. They bear the brunt of the ruthless competition between
multinational juice companies. Their work is physically demanding,
poorly paid, without legal protection and is also seasonal.
22
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
NGOs and the government was also incorporated into the study.
JOB SECURITY
“Outsourcing and precarious
employment conditions for
migrants are serious problems in
the São Paulo farming region.” 1
Most workers on plantations in the state of São
Paulo are migrants or come from peripheral rural areas in adjacent districts. They are generally
men between 30 and 49 with little formal education. In 2011 only 52,000 of the over 2,380,000
1 The quotations are based on interviews conducted by the IOS
and CIR in 2013.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
23
Working conditions
T
he following depiction of current
working conditions is based on field
studies conducted by Christliche Initiative Romero (CIR) in Brazil in June/July
2013 and on a study commissioned by the CIR
from the Instituto Observatório Social (IOS).
The IOS is based in São Paulo. The institute
focuses on investigating and evaluating the
labour, social and environmental standards of
multinational companies in Brazil. The study
is based on an appraisal of interviews with
trade union representatives, plantation workers and factory workers. The general mood
amongst employees was however one of great
fear. It was difficult to find workers who were
prepared to talk about their situation. Some
of the workers who agreed to be interviewed
withdrew their participation at the last minute, feeling they had to be careful about such
contacts. In addition, academic literature, corporate documentation and information from
The sacks workers tie round their bodies for the
harvest weigh up to 30 kg.
workers on the plantations had steady jobs.2
It is common practice to conclude seasonal
contracts on the plantations. These fixed-term
contracts mean that workers are always under
pressure to be extremely productive, as otherwise they have no prospect of being hired during the next harvesting season.
“Gatos” is the name for the local labour contractors who recruit workers at their
place of residence. Generally these labour
contractors select the extra harvest workers
in the towns or villages where they live and
hire them for the next harvest. This is an additional source of pressure for workers. To
avoid creating the impression of being sickly
and losing the chance to work during the next
season, even outside harvest time any health
problems are kept under wraps and workers
avoid going to the doctor. Generally speaking
plantation workers are not employed directly
by large firms but instead have contracts with
sub-contractors (for example through the
labour contractors). On 26th March 2013 a
labour court condemned the three orange
juice giants to pay a fine equivalent to around
160,000 Euro for systematic labour outsourcing – and thus outsourcing of responsibility
– to subcontractors.
In order to be taken on again during the
next harvest, workers must perform well, as
otherwise the labour contractors will not engage them for a further season. The labour
contractors do not merely monitor workers’
performance but also receive a commission,
which is dependent on the workers’ productivity. Workers who harvest too little are not
given any work in the next season. That also
applies to seasonal harvest workers who miss
work too often because they are unwell. All the
workers interviewed explained that they are
constantly monitored by their labour contractors. This constant surveillance leads to a very
high degree of fluctuation in the labour force
on plantations.
In contrast to the plantations, systematic
outsourcing is proscribed by law in the factories. Outsourcing does however occur in the
areas where this is legal, such as cleaning
work, warehousing or security services. Fluctuation rates are also high in the factories.
“Long-term contracts” are for one to – at most
– two years.
173 workers were made redundant in
Matão due to the Citrosuco and Citrovita
merger. In May 2013, 100 workers from the
factory in Limeira were dismissed without
any notice. Rafael de Araújo Gomez from the
Ministry of Labour fears that the merger will
in total lead to the loss of 1,000 jobs, and condemns the fact that employee rights have been
utterly disregarded in the merger process.
2C.f. Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab): Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Acompanhamento da Safra de Laranja 2011/2012. Terceiro Levantamento
- SP; Estimativa da Safra no Triângulo Mineiro – MG, 12/2011.
24
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
“We don’t even know how
much we will receive per crate
for each day”
Generally the harvesters stand on ladders on
the orange trees to harvest the fruit. They have
sacks that look like oversized bags fastened
to their bodies. Once workers have filled the
sacks (which can hold up to 30 kilos), they
climb down the tree and fill the oranges they
have picked into a large bag. Each of the harvest hands has their own large bag. Their daily
wage is calculated on the basis of the quantity
they fill into these bags. Normally these large
bags hold the contents of 50 to 60 sacks. The
workers must harvest 60 sacks a day to earn
the standard minimum wage in the state of
São Paulo, which is 690 Real (260 Euro) per
month. Every additional sack that the workers deliver earns them a bonus. According to
information from the harvest workers, they
are paid an extra 0.42 Real (circa 16 cents) for
each additional sack. That means that in Brazil a seasonal harvest worker earns on average
nine Euro a day for picking around two tonnes
of oranges. A study by the Brazilian trade unions indicates that 14 Euro per day is the absolute subsistence minimum.
The interviews revealed that there are often irregularities when the oranges are delivered. The plantation owners are responsible
for weighing the large bags. The labour contractors pay the harvest workers. The settlement procedure lacks transparency, making
it more difficult for workers to check whether
they have really been paid for the work they
have done. Workers are not present when
the crates are weighed and do not know how
much the labour contractor is paid per crate
harvested, as the labour contractors deduct
their commission before paying the workers.
“Cutrale pays one of the lowest
wages in the food sector in the
state of São Paulo.”
The workforce in the juice plants is much
smaller than on the plantations. Factory workers are paid slightly better than the labourers
in the fields. Wages are usually between 900
and 970 Real (338 and 364 Euro). According
to trade union sources, in 2012/2013 Cutrale
agreed to pay 780 Real (275 Euro), which
means that the wages paid by the juice multinational are 20 per cent below the usual rate
in the sector. It was only when the trade unions brought massive pressure to bear that the
firm gave ground and increased the monthly
payment to 826 Real (circa 290 Euro).
Cutrale employees complained in interviews that the wages promised when they began their work were not paid. The wages they
had been offered could only be achieved by doing overtime and working shifts.
WORKING HOURS
“The working week is 44 hours
long, but in practice work pressure is so great that workers do
not even have time for lunch”
Officially there is a 44-hour working week
on the plantations. Workers are entitled to a
one-hour lunch break. However, there is such
great pressure that workers often have to miss
their lunch break and are de facto forced to
work longer hours. During the harvest, workers are expected to work at weekends too. That
means they have no time to recuperate. There
are no suitable rooms for breaks on the plantations. Workers either eat in buses or out in
the fields. Rooms provided for breaks contain
empty bottles and bags of chemicals.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
25
Working conditions
REMUNERATION
Plantation workers face enormous pressure at work.
Piecework is done in the factories too. In
the interviews workers often mentioned that
the topic of productivity is omnipresent and is
the only criterion used to measure a worker’s
performance. Cutrale is also criticized for putting workers under so much pressure every
day that they work for at least two to three
hours more without taking proper breaks.
During the harvest, working hours in the
factories are extended to up to 14 hours. The
overtime worked is not paid in full. Interviewees referred to overtime being ignored. It is
standard practice in the factories for workers
to be invited to meetings with supervisors outside regular working hours to avoid any loss
of working time.
In 2011 Citrosuco/Citrovita were fined
for violations of employment law. The firm
was found guilty of failing to respect rest
periods between shifts, extending daily
working hours over the legal limit, and forcing employees work without a break for
six hours and more, even at the weekend.
26
HEALTH, SAFETY AND
TOILET FACILITIES
Workers from all firms indicated that
the ladders they are supposed to use are not
suitable for the work. This frequently leads
to injuries and accidents. The ladders are all
the same length, but the orange trees grow
to very different heights. The workers have to
take risks to harvest all the oranges from the
tall trees. In addition, when the ladders are
too high for certain trees, the workers have to
pick the fruit bent over and injure their backs.
Back pain, pains in the arms and shoulders
are the most frequently mentioned health sequelae. Other frequently mentioned ailments
include headaches, eye pain (due to the strong
sun) and colds. There is extremely intense
pressure at work. If a worker falls off a ladder
during the harvest, he or she is quickly told it
was not a bad fall and pushed to keep on working. Workers who fall ill whilst at work are assumed to be malingering. Many workers go to
work sick out of fear of being laid off.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Chemicals are often sprayed whilst the
workers are harvesting in the fields, causing
allergic reactions and other health problems.
Eight women on a Citrosuco plantation were
taken to hospital suffering from poisoning.
The women were discharged at their own request, and against medical advice, after a Citrosuco representative visited the hospital.
The containers that hold toxic agrochemicals for spraying are handled without due
care. The consequences of this careless handling of toxic substances include burning eyes
and headaches. One of the trade unionists interviewed reported that workers on the plantation have to go out into the fields immediately
after pesticide spraying. Tractor drivers in particular are exposed to the risks arising from
agrochemicals without any protection. The
tractors are generally open and do not have
cabins to ensure the drivers do not inhale pesticides. The workers also have to go out into
the orange groves immediately after rain.
The poisonous substances penetrate directly through their clothing and come into
contact with their skin.
No training is provided on how to deal
with poisonous substances, or on health and
safety issues. Employers do not inform workers of the dangers to which they are exposed in
their work and how to take protective action.
Protective clothing is either not available or
is inadequate, and although it is provided for
some workers, there are complaints about its
poor quality. The shoes have cracks, and as a
result the workers run the risk of bites on their
feet from poisonous insects or snakes.
There is no first aid equipment available
for workers during the harvest. In general first
aid supplies only available on the finca, which
in some cases is too far away from the workplace. Drinking water is not made available to
labourers out in the fields. There is a lack of
toilet facilities on the plantations. .
The labour contractors also recruit workers from other districts and are responsible for
arranging accommodation for them. There
are complaints that in some cases this accommodation is not fit for use. There is not
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
27
Working conditions
Employees do piecework in the factories too.
Temporary accommodation for young migrant workers from north-eastern Brazil during the harvest.
even basic furniture (beds, tables, chairs) in
the accommodation provided. There are often
no toilet facilities or access to water or inadequate provision of sanitation and water. 60-80
Real (circa 25 Euro) are deducted from workers’ wages for this accommodation. That is a
breach of Brazilian labour law.
The buses or pick-ups that transport
workers to the plantations are in an extremely
dilapidated state. These vehicles are often not
even registered. In general the labour contractors transport the workers to the plantations
in their own pick-ups. That means that claims
can only be made against the labour contractors if there is an accident, but Cutrale, Citrosuco and LDC are not liable.
In 2011 there were renewed calls for LDC
to provide suitable transport. In particular,
the company was requested to ensure that the
vehicles are registered and have fixed seats,
closable windows and functioning brakes.
One employee who wears a uniform to work
reports that he was asked not to wear the com28
Roll call of workers who have just been hired
outside the plantation.
pany uniform on the way to work, as it would
make it too easy for the press to identify who
was responsible if there were an accident.
A worker reported in an interview that
while workers were being transported from
the plantation after work, both front wheels
of the bus came loose and rolled away. Luckily the workers escaped unscathed as the road
was not asphalted. The workers did not get
back from their shift on that Saturday evening
until around 2 in the morning. The roads are
a further problem as they become muddy and
slippery when it rains. As a result, a journey
that normally takes two hours can take three to
four hours longer as the buses become stuck
in the mud. The workers are then not able to
meet the required piecework rate. Workers
who are on a probationary period lose their
jobs as a result.
“We always get stuck here
when it rains”.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
A bus transporting workers to the LDC plantations. Some of the harvest hands are already wearing the
company’s blue uniform.
It is extremely hot in the factories. There is insufficient light. It is extremely noisy. The air
in the factories is poor, oil is combusted and
the workers breathe in the fumes. There is no
ventilation.
“I have seen colleagues coming
to the factory with a temperature because they were afraid
of losing their job if they stayed
off work sick.”
There is no general provision of protective
clothing in the factories. Often the equipment
provided does not fit. Obtaining appropriate
protective clothing involves considerable bu-
reaucratic effort for employees. As a general
rule, workers should receive hearing protection, protective goggles and a helmet. Cutrale
requires its employees to sign a document
stating that they will accept deductions from
their wages for any damage to protective clothing or tools.
“Everything is made to look
OK before the labour inspectors
come to the factory”
Some of those interviewed complained that no
instructions are provided on procedures if a
fire breaks out. In 2011 and 2012 three Cutrale
employees died as a result of accidents in the
workplace. Information from their colleagues
and the trade unions indicates that these accidents could have been avoided, as the shortcomings that caused them had long been
known to management. One employee had to
work two shifts consecutively and died whilst
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
29
Working conditions
“Working for Cutrale is bad for
your health and a risk to life
and limb”
3 people died in fires in the Cutrale juice plant in Conchal in 2011/2012.
doing cleaning work. The other workers died
as a result of an explosion in the factory.
There is also room for improvement on
respect for environmental standards: a worker
reports that water from the factory is simply
pumped out into the environment without
any safeguards. He noted that there is no
longer any vegetation in the area where the
water is discharged.
DISCRIMINATION
The study showed that women are discriminated against. Trade union sources indicate that in the juice plants male employees generally have open-ended contracts of
employment, whilst most of the women only
have fixed-term contracts. This is a further
reason why women are scarcely involved in
trade union activities in addition to the triple
social roles women are generally expected to
fill.
In addition to economic disadvantages
and discrimination, women are victims of
30
constant psychological, physical and sexual attacks. In addition, the extreme working hours
hamper family life; female workers with children suffer particularly from this state of affairs. The general rule both in the factories
and out in the fields is that if you don’t work,
you don’t get paid. For mothers this means
that they cannot go to the doctor with their
children or attend events at their schools. A
great deal of pressure is exerted to ensure
that women do not miss work. One woman
reported that her boss had asked provocatively
which was more important to her: her job or
her child.
In LDC and Cutrale factories trade union
sources report that many pregnant women or
women with children have been dismissed. In
February 2013 a fine was imposed on Cutrale
for dismissal of pregnant women.
In addition to gender-based discrimination, workers also encounter other forms of
humiliation. Workers are frequently cursed
and insulted in the plantations and factories.
In some cases talking is forbidden in the
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
to talk about their situation”. He explains that
workers generally hide when trade unionists
approach the plantations to avoid being spotted with them. In addition, the plantations
are surrounded by fences, making it difficult
to start a conversation with the workers. The
companies forbid the trade unionists access to
the plantations. The trade unionists are subject to strict surveillance if they manage nonetheless to gain access to the plantations.
A trade union activist reports:“There is no
freedom of speech, no freedom to raise complaints, to demand workers’ rights. Workers
are punished if they lodge a complaint. They
are warned, suspended or put on a “black list”
if they call anything into question.”
Trade union CUT poster “Cutrale kills!”
factories. There is an atmosphere of discrimination. Some supervisors at Cutrale curse
workers as “asses”. In certain cases workers
are also addressed by number rather than by
name. A worker reports: “Every day employees are treated as if they were worthless”. Another worker testifies: “At Cutrale workers are
not respected or acknowledged as human beings. Everyone is aware of this and sees it happening”. Workers report that they are asked to
sign forms by management without knowing
what is contained in the forms.
“There is no respect for human
rights. Workers who bring in
the harvest for these companies
are not chained up as slaves
once were. Different means are
used to keep them captive.”
Information from the trade unions reveals
that the labour contractors are used explicitly
to exert psychological pressure on workers.
That is also why there is a “black list”. Anyone
on that list is not hired for the next harvest.
There are several known cases of Cutrale dismissing trade union members or strikers.
There is a pronounced anti-union attitude in
both the plantations and factories. Workers
who have contacts to trade unions run the
risk of being dismissed from their jobs. For
example, just being seen with a trade union
member in the street or in a bar can mean
an employee will be put on the “black list”. A
trade unionist reports “Freedom does not exist
on the plantations. The workers are very afraid
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
31
Working conditions
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
Supermarkets in focus
32
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Aldi
The art of less
Brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht began to develop their trading empire in 1945 when they
took over their parents’ business in Essen. Ten
years later there were already 100 shops, all in
1C.f. Planet Retail: Die Top 10 Discounter, 06.2013.
At:http://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/business/datenfakten/
rankings/top-10-Discounter-Welt-2013_408.html (accessed on:
15.08.2013).
2C.f. Hamann, Andreas: 100 Jahre Gnadenlosigkeit. At:http://
publik.verdi.de/2013/ausgabe-03/gewerkschaft/ brennpunkt/
seite-3/a0 (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1961 the brothers
divided their business activities into the North
and South corporate groups. These are independent in formal legal terms but engage in
close strategic cooperation to this day. The two
brothers launched the first Albrecht-Discount
(Aldi) branches in 1962 in Dortmund.3
The basic idea of the discount principle,
aiming to compete above all with supermarkets and corner shops, was to reduce sales
outlets to the essentials: no expensive shop
fittings, no decoration in the stores and no
advertising. Goods are sold straight out of
boxes placed on palettes or wooden shelves.
The Albrechts reduced their range to around
300 articles: so-called rapid rotation (i.e. high
sales frequency) basic foodstuffs. There was
no product duplication in the range and no
highly perishable fresh goods. This saved on
3C.f. Aldi: 100 Jahre Kaufmannstradition. At: http://www.
aldinord.de/print/_100_jahre_aldi/ (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
Top 10 discounters worldwide
Ranking Marketing lines
Operator Gross turnover NumberSales
(million Euro) of outlets area*
1Aldi
Aldi Group56836
96177821
2Lidl
3
Schwarz Group
Netto Marken Discount Edeka Group
52257
100448644
13687
47563378
4Dollar General
Dollar General Corp.
13115
105067181
5Penny
Rewe Group
11838
35822424
6Dia
Dia s.a.
11673
68962815
7Family Dollar
Family Dollar Stores, Inc.
7638
74424943
8Biedronka
JMR Jerónimo Martins Retails 7253
9Rema 1000
Reitan Group
6578
742719
10Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree
6106
46013793
* in thousand square metres
Today’s discount giant Aldi has been an unparalleled success story since the 1960s. Aggregating domestic and foreign turnover, both
company groups (Aldi North and Aldi South)
are also number one among the discounters,
with over 50 billion Euro turnover (2012) and
over 200,000 employees.1 In Germany Aldi is
governed by collective bargaining agreements,
but repeatedly gives grounds for criticism due
to unpaid overtime, impeding works councils
(Aldi South) and inappropriate treatment of
staff.2
21251301
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
33
ALDI
Source: Lebensmittelzeitung: top 10 Discounterwelt 2013; All figures from 2012
cost-intensive stock care, shop assistants,
expensive refrigeration cabinets and energy
costs.
There were only a small number of
staff in each branch, and all staff members
had to be able to handle all the essential
steps in the sales process in the branch.
That still applies. Removing essential retail trade functions and applying enormous
pressure to all cost centres – from staff costs
to purchasing prices – gives Aldi considerable advantages vis-à-vis competitors. That
allows Aldi to sell goods cheaply whilst still
making a profit, in keeping with their business model.4 Until the early 1980s Aldi had
the reputation of targeted poorer consumers, but that has changed. Nowadays three
in four households indicate in surveys that
they shop at Aldi. In the discount retailer
league table, Aldi North and Aldi South are
being displaced by Lidl, currently in second
place. Netto, Penny and Norma are next in
the ranking.5
Marching separately, attacking
together
Both at home and abroad Aldi North
and Aldi South maintain a strict regional
division in their networks of branches. Together they have around 4,300 locations
in Germany, with the Aldi equator running through North Rhine-Westphalia and
Hesse. In addition there are over 5,300
branches in the rest of Europe, as well as
in the USA and Australia. The firms’ owners are the respective foundations of the Albrecht family. They hold the majority in the
regional firms engaged in operational business, as well as holding a stake in the man4C.f. Fritz, Wolfgang: Die Aldisierung der Gesellschaft. eine
ökonomische Perspektive, 2005, pp. 10ff.
5C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: Top 6 Discounter Deutschland,
06.2012. At: http://www.lebensmittelzeitung. net/business/
daten-fakten/rankings/index.php?suche=1
&timer=1373882634&id=298&currPage=1#rankingtable
(accessed on: 15.08.2013).
34
agement GmbHs
(Limited
Liability Companies) named after
the manager of
each limited liability company. The
“Purchasing” arm of
the North and South
groups plays a central role in operational
business. All strategic
Aldi‘s juice
decisions are taken by
packages
the two most senior
management bodies: for Aldi North this is the
Administrative Board in Essen, whilst for Aldi
South it is the Coordination Council in Mülheim an der Ruhr. There are regular meetings and close coordination between the two
consortia in respect of both purchasing and
strategy.6
The division of the Aldi Group into legally independent sub-companies allows Aldi
on the whole to avoid obligations to disclose
key business data or to provide for co-decision through supervisory boards. The intricate constructions and extreme confidentiality provisions mean that Aldi North and Aldi
South have been able to ensure that even their
competitors do not know how business is going for the number one discounter.
The data currently available indicates that
turnover in Germany, Aldi’s home base, was
25 billion Euro in 2011. That generated profits
of 772 million Euro.7 Official figures indicate
that around 62.000 employees work for Aldi
North and Aldi South in the more than 4,300
German branches, as well as in warehouses
and company administration.8
6C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: Aldi rückt näher zusammen,
10.06.2011. at: http://www.lebensmittelzeitung. net/news/
newsarchiv/protected/aldi-rueckt-naeher-zusammen_87912.
html (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
7C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: Aldi verdient weniger, 15.08.2013.
at:http://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/news/ top/protected/
aldi-Verdient-weniger_97196.html (accessed on:
15.08.2013
8C.f.Aldi: Aldi Süd – Daten und Fakten. at:
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Aldi’s Price Dictatorship
Aldi still adheres to the discount principle today. It has introduced various innovations, including a wider product range, more
branded products and special offers to attract
customers, more convenience foods (ready-toeat products) and a series of services such as
EC cash or photo services. In addition to restricting the range of products on offer, Aldi’s
employment strategy is one reason why it is
the cost leader. Own-brands account for 95
per cent of the group’s turnover.10 For example, orange juice is sold as an Aldi own brand:
“Rio d’oro” (Aldi South) or “Sonninger” (Aldi
North). Both consortia also offer organic orange juice and juices for children and adolescents (Junior/Aldi Nord and LeoLausemaus /
Aldi South) as well as other own-brand orange
juices.
Aldi North and Aldi South, which exert
enormous power vis-à-vis consumers due to
the huge quantities purchased, generally do
their product purchasing separately. There are
however regular meetings at senior management level and intensive exchanges between
individual departments. Common approaches
are adopted on points such as the product
range, supplier conditions and pricing policy.
https://unternehmen.aldi-sued.de/de/ueber-aldi-sued/unternehmen/daten-und-fakten, and: Aldi: 100 Jahre Kaufmannstradition. http://www.aldi-nord.de/print/_100_jahre_aldi/
(accessed on am: 15.08.2013).
9C.f.Manager-Magazin Spezial: Die 500 reichsten Deutschen,
2012.
At: http://www.manager-magazin. de/unternehmen/
artikel/a-860164.html (accessed on: 06.07.2013).
10C.f.: Spiegel: Aldi-Schwäche – all die Probleme, 28.07.2010.
at: http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/
aldi-schwaeche-all-die-probleme-a-708952-druck.html (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
Aldi’s purchasing strategy affords a reliable
planning framework in terms of quantities
and costs. That also fosters low purchasing
prices.
Both Aldi groups have a fixed core of system suppliers, which includes juice suppliers.
Stute Nahrungsmittelwerke in Paderborn is
one of Aldi’s main suppliers. In some cases
business relationships with suppliers and producers in Brazil have already existed for many
years. Purchase prices are established in joint
negotiations and are influenced by general
market conditions.
Suppliers run the risk of becoming highly
dependent upon the discounter due to Aldi’s
purchasing power. That is particularly true if
they supply more than 50 per cent of their capacity to the chain. Aldi is certainly quick to
drop suppliers. A product does not remain
in the range if it does not sell well. Of the c.
1,000 articles in Aldi’s product range an estimated 350 products per year are replaced by
other products or changed significantly. There
is rigorous price control from procurement to
point of sale. Competitors are also subjected
to Aldi’s price dictatorship. If the discounter
reduces prices, competitors do the same for
their own brands within just a few hours.
Corporate social responsibility
In a statement and in a survey conducted
by the Christian Initiative Romero (CIR) relating to this study, Aldi stated that it generally
requires its producers in the fruit and vegetables segment to comply with global GAP
standards. It also pointed out that the company had been a member of the Common Code
for the Coffee Community Association (4C)
since 2009. This association is working on
a basic standard which fair trade and organic
farming initiatives can build upon. However,
Aldi does not publish any figures to indicate
the share of its sales volume which is accounted for by 4C coffee.
Aldi Süd has made only a general state-
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
35
ALDI
The 100 per cent family-owned consortia
have made their owners some of the richest
people in Germany.9 The two Aldi families
boast assets of over 33.2 billion Euro. The
founder of Aldi South, Karl Albrecht, (his
brother Theo died in 2010) is among the ten
richest people in the world.
ment regarding the study, whilst Aldi Nord,
on the other hand, has addressed the individual aspects of the study in detail. Aldi
Nord has also submitted additional documents, including a supplementary agreement on social standards for procurement,
the SGF‘s (Sure Global Fair) code of conduct and the sustainability agenda of Fischer Gruppe (Fischer Group), which owns
Citrosuco. Aldi Nord provided information
on the structure of its supply chain and
demonstrated exemplary transparency in
the study.
Since 2007, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd
have been members of the BSCI and have
demanded that a number of their suppliers
also join this initiative. This has led to a proliferation in the number of BSCI members.
Almost half of the members have direct or
36
indirect business ties with Aldi. However, the
company has been unable to set an example
to demonstrate how violations of labour rights
can be sanctioned and remedied when they
are discovered.
Aldi is not involved in any independent
verification by way of a multi-stakeholder initiative. The conclusion to be drawn is that Aldi
does not give adequate consideration to the
negative impact which its own procurement
policy has on labour conditions.
Shifting responsibility on to suppliers by
demanding that they sign up to the BSCI is
not a suitable method for implementing social standards. There are no known rules in
place which would demonstrate how planning
could be improved to ensure that excessive
overtime for workers is avoided. The BSCI
does not demand a living wage.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Lidl And Kaufland
A fruit dealer becomes a global
player
The origins of the Schwarz Group, now worth
billions, can be traced back to the 1930s when
the father of the current owner became a
shareholder in an tropical fruits trading company. The food wholesaler Lidl & Schwarz KG
came into being, but was destroyed in 1944.
After the end of the war, redevelopment work
began.2 In 1968 the company opened its first
hypermarket, Handelshof, and in 1973 Lidl
founded its first small discounter. Five years
later Lidl began its expansion within Germany. 1984 marked a further milestone: the first
large-scale self service department store under
the name of Kaufland opened in Neckarsulm.
Alongside Dieter Schwarz manager
Klaus Gehrig has played a leading role in
the Schwarz Group’s successful expansion.
He originally worked with Aldi South and is
currently the main figure directing the group
in his capacity as chairman of Lidl and Kaufland’s “supervisory boards”. Most of the turnover of the group, which has its headquarters
in Neckarsulm, now comes from its business
abroad.
1C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: top 6 Discounter Deutschland,
2012. At:http://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/business/datenfakten/rankings/index.php?suche=1&timer =1373977344&id=
298&currPage=1#rankingtable (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
2C.f. Kaufland-Chronik.
At:http://www.kaufland.de/Home/05_Unternehmen_/007_
Chronik/index.jsp, (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
Lidl is more widely represented in international markets than its main competitor, Aldi. Dieter Schwarz is one of the richest
people in Germany, with estimated assets of
twelve billion Euro.3
An impenetrable web
Lidl has roughly 10,000 branches in 26 European countries.4 Around 3,300 of these are
in Germany. The firm has announced that it
plans to expand into the US market in 2015.
In eastern and south-eastern Europe, Lidl and
Kaufland’s expansion is funded with loans
from World Bank subsidiary International
Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) in London.5 Total loans for the last
ten years amount to more than half a billion
Euro. In 2010 a long-term loan to the tune of
300 million Euro was agreed with the EBRD,
whose shareholders include numerous states
and the EU. There has been criticism for some
time that these loans do not promote fair competition but instead destroy existing retail
structures, for example in Poland, Romania
and Bulgaria.
This has enormous consequences. In
the wake of Lidl’s announcement that it was
planning to open 300 branches in the Czech
3C.f. Manager-Magazin Spezial: Aldi Clan dominiert Deutschlands Topmilliardäre, 09.10.2012. at: http://www.managermagazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-860164.html (accessed on:
15.08.2013).
4C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: top 10 Discounter Welt, 06.2013.
at:http://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/business/datenfakten/
rankings/index.php?suche=1&timer=137397669 0&id=408&cu
rrPage=1#rankingtable (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
5C.f. Hamann, Andreas et al.: Schwarz-Buch Lidl Europa, 2006
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
37
Lidl and kaufland
Since the early 1990s Lidl has become the
most rapidly expanding discounter in Germany and internationally. Together with sister
company Kaufland, which runs self service
department stores and hypermarkets, Lidl is
part of entrepreneur Dieter Schwarz’ eponymous group. Whilst annual turnover in 1990
was roughly three billion Euro, today Lidl’s
turnover is estimated to be 52 billion (2012).1
Republic, ten per cent of foodstuffs were subsequently offered there below cost price.6
In Germany alone Lidl now employs
68,000 staff, with 170,000 employees in its
global workforce. Kaufland has over 1,000
outlets, with roughly 600 outside Germany:
it is estimated that the Schwarz Group, with
its 68 billion Euro turnover (2012), has approximately 310,000 employees.7 The corporate structure is an opaque mesh of firms and
foundations. The Lidl area alone is made up
of 300 individual firms. The extremely convoluted structure of the retail group is one of
the factors that conceal its power structures
and decision-making procedures. As a result, burdensome disclosure obligations are
circumvented, employee co-decision rights
are undermined and the establishment of a
group or overall works council is hampered or
prevented.8 In addition, the Schwarz-Group
Figure 6: Structure of the Schwarz Group.
Source: Financial Times Deutschland: Agenda: Alles unter
Kontrolle bei Lidl, 2004.
6C.f. Handelsblatt: Lidl: Die Methoden des Geheimniskrämers,
05.02.2004. at: Handelsblatt: http://www. handelsblatt.com/
unternehmen/handel-dienstleister/lidl-diemethoden-desgeheimniskraemers/2303830.html (accessed on: 15.08.2013).
7C.f. Glaubitz, Jürgen: Unternehmensporträt Schwarz-Gruppe,
01.2012.
at: https://www.verdi-bub.de/service/ konzerne_abisz/archiv/
schwarzgruppe/ (accessed on: 15.08.2013)
8ibid
38
also achieves enormous tax reductions with
this strategy. Despite this lack of transparency, business experts agree that Schwarz
Unternehmenstreuhand KG (SUT) forms
the actual centre of power as the lead holding for both Lidl and Kaufland. A somewhat
less important but still key role is played by
Dieter Schwarz Stiftung GmbH. Lidl and Kaufland also function as foundations, although
not for tax reasons; the main motivation for
this structure is likely to be the fact that such
structures do not fall within the scope of codecision legislation.9
Corporate Social Responsibility
In its replies to a survey on this study conducted by Christliche Initiative Romero (CIR)
and in a statement from the firm, Lidl asserts
that it has worked for years in the own-brand
segment with certifying organizations such as
Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified,
MSC, FSC, PEFC, Global GAP/- GRASP, ETI
(for orange juice) and BSCI.
According to the firm, seven people reporting directly to the directors of its purchasing arm work in the field of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR). Lidl emphasizes that
it takes Corporate Social Responsibility concerns into account in its purchasing policy.
Its CSR code is however not publicly available, which makes conclusive appraisal of
this code impossible. Information provided by
Lidl indicates that its CSR code encompasses
the core ILO labour standards, a complaints
mechanism and provisions on a living wage.
The code applies not only to Lidl own-brand
products, but encompasses all product groups
and the entire purchasing chain, including
subcontractors. According to Lidl’s own information, the firm has no influence on brand
manufacturers. In order to implement the
code, there have been training courses with
three employees and four managers on CSR
9C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: Stille Gesellschaft, Lebenmittelzeitung (print edition, 11th March 2011)
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
Lidl‘s (left) and Kaufland‘s juice packages
10C.f. Lebensmittelzeitung: Weg frei für Selbstregulierung,
28.06.2013. at: http://www.lebensmittelzeitung. net/news/
top/protected/ernaehrungswirtschaft-Will-sich-zufairemUmgang-bekennen_99998.html (accessed on:15.08.2013).
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
39
Lidl and kaufland
since 2011 at Lidl HQ in Neckarsulm.
Lidl was however unable to provide
examples of the way in which violations of employment laws are followed
up on and resolved. The firm is not part
of an independent verification process
through a multi-stakeholder approach.
In conjunction with Edeka, Lidl and
Kaufland are vigorously involved at the European level in seeking to avoid legislative
provisions that would oblige retailers and
the food industry to comply with fair business practices throughout the value-added
chain.10 They seek to develop a cross-Europe
system based on voluntary commitments as a
“competition-friendly” alternative.
CALL FOR CHANGE
The situation described above in respect of orange juice production in Brazil and employment conditions in the retail trade in Germany demonstrates that firms do not take
sufficient account of their responsibilities. A raft of cross-border arrangements and corporate constructions make it possible for responsibility in the supply chain to be fobbed
off onto employees.
Christliche Initiative Romero and ver.di cooperate to advocate humane working
conditions worldwide that enable people to secure their livelihood. German retail companies must assume full responsibility for providing a living wage through collective
bargaining agreements and democratic co-determined working conditions. To that end,
the German retail sector, including in particular Rewe and Edeka as the major players, as
well as Aldi and Lidl/Kaufland, must undertake the following steps.
In the national and international supply chain, retailers should:
Create and apply a comprehensive code of conduct that prescribes binding guidelines on employment. This code should apply to all employees at every point in the
supply chain, in purchasing, sales and production.
Compliance, implementation, monitoring and oversight of the code through direct
cooperation with trade unions and labour law initiatives must be secured and rooted in a credible mechanism to represent employee interests (Multi Stakeholder Initiative/MSI). Companies must adopt identifiable measures on their own initiative
to foster employee access to trade unions, allow trade unions to work freely, and
pay a living wage.
End gender-specific mistreatment of and discrimination against woman and girls in
the supply chain (discriminatory hiring practices, wage inequalities, discrimination
in access to further training and promotion etc.).
Give employees in supplier companies the right to a steady job that enables them to
secure their livelihood and afford employees scope to exercise that right.
Conditions of employment in the food retail trade in Germany:
Cooperatives Edeka and Rewe must assume responsibility for ensuring that German collective bargaining agreements for the retail trade are implemented in all
markets operated under the Edeka and Rewe brands, and ensure that works councils can be established at all levels without discrimination or reprisals against employees.
We call on Aldi, Lidl and Kaufland to make it possible for all employees working under their brand names to enjoy comprehensive protection through works councils.
The guarantees provided by statutory co-decision mechanisms are the first step in
ensuring compliance in practice with the rights enshrined in collective bargaining
agreements and all labour protection legislation.
40
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
BEING A MAJOR
PLAYER MEANS
RESPONSIBILITY
Group and company responsibility now!
As firms clearly often use voluntary CSR measures to whitewash their business practices, CIR and ver.di call on the EU and
the German parliament to adopt binding provisions in the following areas:
Effective penalties and liability provisions for
companies;
Accountability and disclosure obligations for
companies;
social issues.
Christliche Initiative Romero / ver.di > Focus: Orange juice
41
Call for Change
Linking award of public contracts to respect for
UNFAIRPAK
Focus: Orange juice
The production and sale of food generates billions worldwide. It
is large corporations which are responsible for making decisions
on labour and production conditions in the food industry. However, when it comes to assuming responsibility for the people
who make this vast wealth possible in the first place, i.e. the employees, these corporations stress that they are under no legal
obligation to assume such responsibility.
The orange juice study paints a transparent picture of the entire
supply chain, from the cultivation of the oranges to the marketing of the juice. Research findings in Brazil and Germany shed
light on something which food retailers are all too happy to cover
up: dependence and exploitation.
This study contains:
Overview of orange juice Production: A detailed look at
working conditions*
8 pages
12 pages
Research on the key retailers:
Aldi 5 pages
Lidl/Kaufland
5 pages
* 100% free of labour rights
S Q UEE Z E D